7 Time Saving Technology Tools Essential for SME Success

Being a small and successful business requires hours of dedication – not just a passion for the product or service you are selling. As a small business owner you need skills in management, HR and marketing to name a few, you are the business so you need to manage all the necessary elements.

In this article we will explore a series of tools that will help you work more effectively and free up some of your valuable time – so you can concentrate on making your business a success.

Slack– Slack’s primary aim is to modernise the way teams communicate. The platform simply works on channels, where communication is open between a group of people. For example if you’re launching a new product, firstly you would open a new channel, essentially a new project or task, and you can add the appropriate users to this channel. These users will then have access to features such as:

Using Slack will allow you to keep control from a distance, see what your staff are working on and remove the need for long email threads.

FreeAgent – Choosing an accountant who uses an online accounting software platform really can save you hours. Software such as FreeAgent, gives you access to key business statistics such as:

– The balance of your bank account– Raised invoices and if they have been paid– Your tax deadlines and an estimate of these costs– Any expenses incurred– Company payroll

Having this data at your fingertips allows you to always be on top of your business finances. When it comes to making that next business decision you’ll find it will be much simpler when you have a full picture of your finances.

Google Suite – GSuite offers a complete range of functionality for your business. As a Google Cloud based product you can access the tools from anywhere in the world and there is no need to download any software. The suite allows you to set-up and manage emails, see how your website is performing, launch adverts on Google and store all your documents, giving you peace of mind everything is one place and easy to access.

Breathe HR – Managing the day to day activities of your staff can be stressful enough without thinking about contracts, sick pay, holiday pay and other HR tasks. Thankfully with new systems such as BreatheHR, these processes are streamlined. For example you can check if someone has read the employee handbook, you can send amendments to a contract with a click of a button and it even has a fancy holiday calendar.

Hootsuite﻿ – There is no denying it is time consuming managing all your social media platforms. However it’s important for those you have a connection with, to receive updates on your business and expand their reach. That’s where Hootsuite comes in. This is a social media platform that allows you to easily manage all your social media by scheduling posts in advance with the added benefit of tracking and reporting capabilities too.

Evernote– In a nutshell Evernote is an interactive notepad that works on all of your devices. Unlike a notepad, it of course never runs out of paper and has a bunch of handy features, such as:

– Voice recordings– Access to your camera– A business card scanner

Evernote also allows you to share notes with team members, so you’ll never need to worry about losing a scribbled note again.

Lastpass – Setting up all these accounts will require usernames and passwords, Lastpass is a brilliant password vault so you only need to remember one password. It comes with extensions for popular browsers such as Chrome, Internet Explorer and Safari and apps for Android and iPhone’s. So you never need to worry about misplacing your login details again.